Signaling device.



C. HBNSGHBL.

SIGNALING DEVICE. l APPLIOATION HLED PB ls, 1.910.

1,090,816, y Patented Mann, 1914.

4 SHBETFBHEET 1.

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G. vHENSGHEL. SIGNALING DEVICE. APPLIOATION FILED 23.18. 1910.

1,090,816. v Patented Mr.17,1914.

' 4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WTNESSES.' d j /NVENTH u /g I n? /lz/.Lo/ULL:

A UUR/VHS G. HENSGHEL. SIGNALING DEVICE. APPLIOATIONTILED Pn.,1s.1a1o. r/ 1,090,81 6. Patented Mar. 17, 1914h 4 SHEETS-SHEET 8.

A TTOHNEYS C. HENSGHEL. SIGNALING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED 11111.18, 1910.

1,090,816. Patented"Mar.17,1914.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

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NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOB CHAS. COBY @c SON, INC.,

A. CORPORATION OF YORK.

. SIGNALING mrvrcn.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, CmnmsHmzsoHnL, a citizen of. the United States, and a resident of the city, county, and'State of New York, have invented certain new-and useful Improvements in Signaling Devices, -of

which the following is a specification.

l.in which si My invention relates to signaling devices als are formedv'at a receiving stationv by lighting certain electric lamps selected from a suitably arran ed group of such lamps, the lamps selecte 'being determined'by the setting of a suitable device at the transmitting station. v

My invention relates more particularly to such devices when used on shipboard for the purposes of transmitting signals to, those tion engaged in operating the ship or the guns.

The object of my invention is to provide an improved arrangement of switches or contacts for closing the circuits of the various signal lamps t0 ether with an improved means :for manipu ating s uch switches, so

` that the operation of the switches is positive tact oints or short circuiting.

as thel specifica- 'and certain without risk of burning out con-Y Ot er objects will appear roceeds. v

Re erring to the drawings accompanying, which are made a`part of this specification,

Figure 1 is a view' in elevation of a preferred form of transmitter (or receiver) embod ingmy invention;4 Fig. 2 i's a secventionin w ch lented by a tion ta en along the'line 2-2 of Fig. 1 ;Fig'.

3 is an elevation similar to'Fig. 1 but with the dial plate removed to show" the arrangement of switches with reference to the signal lamps; Fig; 4'is a section, partly inelevation, showing one form of contact switch used in my vinventionin its closed position; Fig. 5'is a plan view,' somewhat enlarged,

' of apart of the control -diskiised to operate the various switches; Fig. 6`is an elevation, partly in section, showing aY modiledfform of switch in closed position (at th'eleftlandj inA open position (at thai-ight) Fig. 7 shows still another modification of .the switch in open position (at thefleft) and in closed position (tztl1 the right); Fig. 8 shgws, diagrammati am arrangement o my inthe -coiitrol disk Vis equivander; Fig-9 is a view in 10 is a dillo elevation of 1g. 8; and

Specication of Letters Patent. Application illed April 18, 1910. Serial -N o. 558,009.

Patented Mar. 17,' i914.

cylinder of Fig.`8 could be replaced by a similar cylinder 'arranged' to voperate 'the switch from its inner instead of from its outer surface.

.- The general type of signaling device which I have shown in the drawings above referred to is well known in the art and comprisesessentiall two identical instruments connected by suitable wiring to 4one another arid -to a source of electri 'cal energy, one of said instruments being used as a transmitter and one as a receiver.` Each instrument consists of a group of electrical elements (lamps I in the particular apparatus shown) a plurality of switches controlling the circuits yof said elements, and a control disk arranged to operate said switches so as to actuate se'-y lected elements according` as the control disk is rotated into one position or another as the case may be. In the form of signalingdevice which I have selected for the purposes of illustration, the signals are given in the form of numbers. and a dialplate is connected with the control disk so that with the aid of a suitably disposed iducial'mark the control disk may be set to any desired num'- ber, which number is indicat'edby the signal. lamps. The lamps on transmitter and receiver are either jpined in series so that the sending station may have ocular evidence that a correct signal is transmitted, ,or the lamps on each instrument may'be connected to the sending switches of the other instrument, in -which case each linstrument may be used to form signals at the other instrument independently.

Signaling instruments, as. here referred to, and as previously made, have commonl and controldisk f f (or its carrying segments whi actually become part of the several vlam circuits as said circuits were actuated. T e usual form of control disk has been a disk composed of insugenerally, sofar as I am aware, emb vied a eqliliivalent cylinder) en electrical contact has been Iliade or broken has been diiicult to avoid. The rements of this is the liability of a of metal to be dragged from the contact ments and deposited u on the vinsulating surface, thus leading to s ort circuits and general disarrangement of the apparatus.

My invention is particularly directed to the overcoming ofthese diiiculties,l and consists in v'substituting for the usual control disk as just described a disk which has no. function, except to mechanically catch the switches, which latter are themselves completely removed from the control disk, so that said disk forms no part of the electrical circuits.

The invention consists also in the means and manner by which and-in which the switches are actuated; also in the arrange ment of the switchesland in the character of their construction. In this Way the switches can be located at any convenient place and the best principles of switch construction can be utilized without serious compromises due to special character of the controlling mechanism. The control disk, since it has a purely mechanical function to perform,

can be made of metal and is thus much more rigid, durable and permanent. A fur-v plate 3 at the center of which is arectangular opening '4 covered with ground glass behind which is the group of lamps 5, various combinations of which lamps are to be determined by the device. The dial plate 3 is provided with a circumferentially ar- 'l ranged system of graduations .5 comprising numbers from 70` to 350 inclusive and covering about 300 of arc. The back of head 2 is provided with a boss extending both inwardly and outwardly, which is bored to form an outer bearing for a short spindle 6. vThe other end 6 of this spindle 1s finishedto work in a suitably bored bearing at the center of the disk or switch plate 7 upon which are 'mounted the various switches as well as the group of signal lamps. Spindle 6 is formed with a collar 8 against one side of which is pinned the control disk 9,

y while its other side bears against the faced boss lformed on late 7 through which is bored the bearing or the spindle end 6.

Fixed to spindle 6 at the rear head 2 isa setting lever 11, which passes up and to the front over lthe head so as to overhang the same and is provided with an index12 to cooperate with the dial plate. A handle 13 enables the Vlever to be moved and control disk 9 set in any desired position.

Thel control disk 9 is referably made of a single plateof chilledJ steel. In its front face are cut shallow con-- centric grooves 14 of varying lengths and spaced at varying distances from the center. These grooves are preferably semi-circular in section and should be sloped gradually up to the surface of the disk at their ends for reasons which will presently appear.

F igs.A 2 and 3'show a preferred arrangement of switches upon the switch plate 7. The type of switch used in these two figures is shown in enlarged detail in Fig. 4. As drawn there areveight switches placed side by-side at the upper part-of the switch plate and seven-switches at the. lower part; two more switches are arranged above and belo'w on each side there being thus provided are both fixed to the Switch plate 7, an in-- sulating plate 20 being interposed.

Attached to lever 15 at about one-third its length from pivot 16 is a. downwardly projecting pin 21 of insulating' material. This pin is positioned Ito rest against an actuating pin 22 having at its lower end a loosely held friction ball 23 adapted to rest upon control disk 9,--- and which passes through the switch plate and has sliding it with said switch plate. A spring 24 suitably -supported presses downwardly upon lever 15 .so as to keep the contact points 18 and 19 normally together. The length of pin 22 is so determined that when ball 23 rests upon the top of plate 9 the contacts 18 and 19 will be open while when-it is in the bottom of a be closed. l

To send any given signal the handle 13 is grasped and the dial plate moved s o that the liducial mark 12 rests upon the particular signal number to be transmitted. Thus in Fig. 1 to send the signal 234 shown by the hatching at the center the dial must be turned counter clockwise until the index 12 is upon the index line 324. This will bring certain particular grooves 14 under the particular pins 22 belonging to the particular iron or hardened.

groove 14 these contacts will switches controlling the particular lampscontrol disk 9; the ball or roller 23 aids to the same end. f

In Fig. 6 is shown a modified form of switch in which lever 15' is larranged vertically linstead of horizontally. In this switch alsoV are embodied two sets of con-v conductivity material and a spring shouldbe Vused to keep one member of contactsysteln 2G pressed outwardly so that these particular contacts will lbe closed before and opened after contacts as the switch is closed and opened.

The switch-shown in Fig. 7 differs but little from that shown in Fig.l 6 save that its contacts are closed when pin 22 is upon the surface of disk 9 and open'when pin 22 is at the bottom of a groove instead o f vice versa as in the latter figure. Both contacts 25 and 2G have here been provided with springs 27', also instead of only one as in Fig. 6.

lhe form of switch shown'in Fig. 4 may, of course, easily be arranged to use the particular type of contact points of either Fig. 6 and Fig. 7. It may also be arranged to open the circuit when pin 22 is at the bottom of a groove 14 as does the switch of rig. 7.

' around the periphery thereof and those for different individual switches being in diiferent parallel planes spaced apart to corre.

spond with the spacing of the switches themselves along the cylinder; as drawn the grooves 14 vare simple Vs instead of elongated grooves as in the case of the flat control disk previously described and the clo- SllOIt. Yi In Fig. 10 I show exactly the saine arrangement as is shown in Figs. Sand 9 except that the grooves 14 and the switehes'are arranged on the inside of the cylinder instead of on the outside.

The 'peripheral width of grooves 14 in Figs. and 10 corresponds to the circumferential length of the grooves in the l'lat disk and may be varied to suit requirements.

Variations of detail may be made in the control disk, in the switches and in various other features of the device as above described and shown in the drawings, without departing from the spirit of my invention which I have Adefined in the following claim.

I clairn- As an article of manufacture a signaling device comprising a rotatable control disk provided on a side thereofl with a plurality of concentric grooves whose ends slope gradually to the surface of the disk, a switch plate adjacent to and parallel with said control disk, a plurality of circuit controlling switchesV mounted upon lsaid switch plate, and a series of pins slidably supported in said switch plate adjacent to said switches, and normal to the control disk and adapted to have their ends received by said grooves so as to actuate said switches, substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

. CHARLES I-IENSCHEL. Witnesses: p i

ELMER G. WILLYOUNG, FRANK F. KIRKPATRICK.

sure of the switch is, hence, correspondingly 40` 

